
Jennifer Brick has the most amazing LinkedIn presence.
She's hilarious and posts such a great variety of content - from videos to tips to memes of your fave Schitt's creek character.
From the moment I came across her in my feed, I just LOVED her energy. And I *had* to make sure you were introduced to her as well!
I invited her to share about herself and her insights on 'glowing up your career'.
So read on, and definitely make sure you're following her on LinkedIn!
On Being the Architect of success in your life + Sharing your dreams
First let's get you introduced to my community!
Your business, Capdeca Solutions, helps "ambitious AF future leaders elevate and accelerate their careers." (LOVE this btw). Tell us a bit more about what you do.
In short, I help people glow up their careers, getting clear about what they want and becoming intentional about success (instead of having it by accident).
I truly believe you are the architect of success in your life, and once you have clarity in what you want to build and the blueprint to do so, everything becomes possible, no matter what obstacles are in the way.
Note from Liz: if you want to learn more about her approach to glowing up your career, be sure to check out her webinar!
Ok, so I couldn't help but stand up and clap Meryl Streep style at how you described Career Glow Up - "smash your wildest goals (even the ones that are so big you won't admit them to your bestie)". Because I hear this as well!! Womxn have these incredible dreams and aren't telling anyone!! So give us your best story of a client who started talking about their dreams and what happened once they began sharing
I think the biggest lies womxn are told back is to shrink our dreams; we’re constantly told about how hard it is to succeed and how many statistics are against us.
One of my clients, M, proved how knowing what you want, embracing it and owning it can transform everything. When we met, she thought her next step should be a promotion at her current company - but she was one of the youngest team members, one of the only womxn and the only one without a university degree. She had a lot of statistics telling her she shouldn’t make the next step.
Through our work together she figured out what she really wanted, a new job opportunity where her manager would be a mentor, and grounded her in how those stories were proof she was the exception to the stats. As soon as she started telling people close to her in her professional network, one of her contacts recruited her. She ended up working with an exceptional leader, and got a $50k pay increase in the process.
I think the biggest lies womxn are told back is to shrink our dreams; we’re constantly told about how hard it is to succeed and how many statistics are against us.
Jennifer Brick

On the different kinds of intelligences + LinkedIn Bloopers
You recently wrote a LinkedIn post that I thought was so fun and so brilliant, about the six different kinds of intelligences. Could you tell us why it's important for everyone to know their type of intelligence?
On a surface level, your type of intelligence may orient you towards certain roles where you would naturally excel. Your greatest opportunity for growth is from your strengths, not your weakness, so this can also help you know where to focus your personal and professional growth.
Finally, I think it’s also important to appreciate the diversity of intelligence; there is more than one type of intelligence and each person will bring their own to your team, professional relationships and mentorships. This ultimately helps us admire the genius others bring to the table and value our own too.

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Your greatest opportunity for growth is from your strengths, not your weakness.
Jennifer Brick
You also do a lot of great videos on LinkedIn... Tell me, do you have any hilarious blooper stories to share with us?!
Oh my goodness I have so many bloopers! Most of them are me stumbling over my own words - but some are me blowing off steam when the camera is rolling - if I feel tired or too serious I commit to 5 seconds of silliness to feel more myself.

On Intrapreneurship + Gwen Stefani
It was confirmed for me that you're a gal after my own heart when I saw you have a blog article on Intrapreneurs!! You make such an important point, that if people want support for their initiatives (especially to help be seen as promotion-material), the initiative needs to have impact. Where do you find many people stumble when it comes to figuring out the kind of project that will have impact?
The biggest disconnect I see is what an individual thinks is important versus what their boss or company thinks is important. When you initiate a high impact project, validate that it is a problem that your boss, their boss and maybe their boss’s boss has interest in.
Find the intersect of your unique talents and where they intersect with the priorities of the company. Also, focus not on what you are doing or what you did, but why it matters. For example, is your company more profitable because of the initiative? I know this will sound cynical, but businesses think about the bottom line - impact it, and people will take notice.
Alright, a fun question now..... What was your favourite album or group in high school and do you still listen to them?
My absolute favorite band in high school was No Doubt. I was a total Gwennabe (a Gwen Stefani wannabe for anyone who didn’t come of age in the mid 90s, haha). I still know all the words to Tragic Kingdom and my favorite song to run to is still Just A Girl. I think the subconscious impact challenging gender norms had on me led me to where I am.

On Using Data + Impostor Messages
Now, back to the "serious" questions Being a data nerd myself, I loved your article "Enough Talk. It's time for data", especially the really important point that promotion metrics should track at minimum with the company workforce. For a lot of individual employees, this may feel like it's out of their control and up to HR to figure out. But can you debunk that myth and give us some tips for how the "average" employee can advocate that their company use more data and metrics for talent development?
The reason I love data is that it doesn't lie. We may interpret it differently, but the quantifiable numbers are true. One way to encourage your company to track numbers, like the retention and promotion rates of female and BIPOC employees is to ask for it. It seems absurd to many, but many companies don’t even track this data today.
And onto a true serious topic... A lot of womxn I work with face what I call "impostor messages", for example when womxn see that it’s mainly men getting promoted, it’s a silent message that womxn don’t belong in leadership in their company. Have you witnessed or experienced impostor message? What advice do you have for getting past it?
I will try not to write a novel on this, because this is a phenomenon that I have been researching a lot lately. There are two things that come into play.
First, imposter syndrome strikes men and women equally, and the Dunning Kruger Effect explains it! To summarize, once you surpass a basic level of knowledge in an area or in your role, you begin to know enough to know what you don't know, so your confidence plummets - this is what I call the Imposture Zone. Where you likely know more than most, or at least what you need to, but you don’t have all the answers yet. As you learn more and eventually gain expertise, your confidence recovers and you exit the Imposture Zone.
For womxn specifically, I think the very tightrope we have to walk for career advancement also promotes imposter syndrome. We have so many double-binds and expectations about who we are and how we are at work. For example, you can’t be too nice or you’re a pushover, but you can’t be assertive or you’ll be considered abrasive. Sometimes womxn feel like they have to adopt qualities and personality traits that aren’t quite them, they don't feel authentic. So when they get that uplevel, on a deeper level they feel like impostures because they weren’t rising as their authentic selves.
For womxn specifically, I think the very tightrope we have to walk for career advancement also promotes imposter syndrome.
-Jennifer Brick
I can't help but throw in a 'coach-y' question.... If you knew you couldn't fail, what would you do? 🙂
My big career dreams right now are to write a book and become a professional speaker.
And there's one "dream big" question I love asking everyone -- If I could wave a magic wand and you could change ONE thing for womxn in the workplace, what would it be?
I would erase the culture of self-doubt that womxn are socialized to have. It makes us question ourselves and each other, and other people question us. The more womxn realize how much awesomeness they possess, the higher we will all rise.
The more womxn realize how much awesomeness they possess, the higher we will all rise.
Jennifer Brick

Her Recommended Resources
I have to ask everyone this (because I love me a good book recommendation!) What leadership book are you reading right now or would you recommend?
I’m not reading it right now, but it is my favorite book for womxn aspiring to leadership: How Women Rise by Marshall Goldsmith and Sally Helgesen.
If you only read one career book, make it this one! I also recently read Unbreak the System by Josh Rovner, who I met as a fellow speaker at an event a few months ago. This book is targeted at executives, but it dives into what he calls the critical flaws of an organization. Even if you’re brand new in your career, it provides insights that will give you context, and as a leader will help you build better teams.
And the final question... Who do you LOVE following on LinkedIn, Instagram or Twitter?
LinkedIn is my favorite platform. There are so many awesome people there: I love Diana YK Chan's posts and her new live show, Junette Caloroso for high energy job searching tips, Monica Marcelis Fochtman for mid-career transition and fully integrated job search strategies, Jon Tam for career clarity tips, and Ajay Shankar who has daily videos that will help you dig into who you are at a deeper level.
I just loved Jennifer's thoughts and insights, especially about starting from your unique strengths and recognizing the diversity of strengths in others.
Make sure you start following Jennifer and getting her insights & hilarity! You can find her on LinkedIn.
And don't miss her free webinar on how on to boost your visibility and promotability at work without brown-nosing or bro’ing out.